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Innovator; Chapter 21: Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part-2)
🕑 Added 2024-01-22 12:06:10 +0000 UTCAuthor’s Note: Hello my dear patron family. Here’s chapter twenty-first of Innovator. Hope you like it! Do tell how it was in the comments. Also, Chapters 1-18 are on my fanfiction and ao3 profile.
Author Out!
“I am Talking.”
‘I am Thinking’
Spells
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We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside us.
~Joker
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Warning: There is some gore and a little bit of 'emotional trauma' scene ahead. I know you didn't expect it, but this is the chapter that explains Harry's past and why he is the way he is. So, be prepared.
Also, as I had done earlier, the memories in INNOVATOR are in First person POV. The change is marked with '~OOO~'
Enjoy!
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INNOVATOR
-Dev Sagittarius Black
~~Chapter 21: Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part:2)~~
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The world around him swirled, his vision blurred in pain and anguish. The people around him vanished into the torrents of magic that revolved around him, creating a vortex that would slowly suck everything inside it until there was nothing left.
The pain had been excruciating, and there was no semblance of peace as everything was taken away from him. The boy that went through with this knew that it was needed, yes, but that didn’t mean that going through with it was easy. All he could see were things that revolved on and on around him. He felt various emotions within him. Some were friendly and some not. Still, it was a whole new experience to have things the way they were.
For the first time in his life, his entire world was upside down. There was so much to explain, so much to do, and all he could see and feel was a sense of extreme disorientation that was eating him from outside and inside both. Something that was killing him and his energy, sucking the life out of him as he tried to survive the avalanche of magic that was thrust inside him by the multiversal entity.
To Harry Potter, there was no end to the excruciating pain that circulated within him, something that he knew would kill him if it didn’t stop anytime soon. Maybe accepting death would be a better choice than going through with this, maybe he wasn’t made for this, maybe his life was made to just be a simple inventor who tinkered with things. Not to host, and control, the powers of someone as powerful as Death itself.
Still, he persevered. There was nothing he would like to do more than to just leave it all and succumb to the pain that would eventually kill him. Dying wasn’t an option, though, was it? He needed to live, needed to survive. He needed to go through with this pain, and come out of it relatively alive. While there were many who would like nothing more to see him dead, there were many more who depended on his survival.
Images flashed before his eyes, images of people that had been there for him when he had needed them the most. Of those who had made the situation a little more bearable, a little more livable, a little more hopeful. Even though they had not been there when he had given up on everything, they were there when he needed to feel things and to be human again.
Many people flashed before his eyes. His godfather, Sirius, grinned at him. His best friend, Blaise, waved cheekily at him. Cho and Fleur were both giving him encouraging smiles, as if they were there for him whenever he needed them. Most prominently, he saw two people smiling, not at him…they were smiling with him, and their smiles gave him the needed strength to survive the maelstrom that was in and around him.
One was a blonde haired witch who was in his year. She looked at him as if he was her everything in this wretched world, as if she already knew he could do everything and had the utmost faith in him and his abilities.
The other was a redhead woman, a bit older than the blonde. Her green eyes sparkled with joy, and her smile lit up a thousand worlds. She was smiling with conviction, determination, and the belief of being the mother of a warrior, a survivor, and the one person who can, and will, achieve all his goals in his life. She was the mother of a monster, yes, but she smiled as if he was nothing short of an incarnation of god in her eyes.
And that gave him the strength to endure it all.
He screamed, grunted, and grit his teeth as the entire world shook around him and the ceiling cracked. The last of the transmission finished and immediately his mind felt as if it was being crushed and burned at a pyre at the same time while his vision blurred.
The last thing he was able to perceive through his hazy, fleeting vision was a translucent shield that formed around him as he lost himself to the inky blackness that filled his vision, his body falling to the ritual chamber’s stone floor.
.
“Invenire.”
The portrait of Marcus the Manipulator smirked as he looked at the visitor before bowing, “Finally, welcome to the suite,” He said as the door to the VIP suite opened.
Just as she had stepped inside, there was a small ‘pop’ as the suite’s loyal housekeeper popped in. He looked at the entrant and gave an excited grin, “Master Potter’s Miss Greengrass is in Master’s suite, how can Dobby help Master’s Miss?” he queried, giving a small bow.
Daphne smiled at the elf, especially at his choice of diction. She remembered that it was just a few months ago that she had finally convinced the little guy that she was, indeed, Harry Potter’s Miss, and that he should refer to her as such. It started as a small prank, but now, it was definitely one of the best pranks she had ever played, at least in her opinion.
“Hello Dobby,” she greeted as she approached the elf. “How are you?”
“Dobby is fine, Master Potter’s Miss. Dobby has been cleaning the suite and keeping it ready for when Master comes back.” He proudly showed the spectacularly clean suite that would look perfect as a five-star hotel’s VIP room. Not that Dobby knew about muggle hotels, to him this was the best he could do for the one person he adored and respected the most.
“I can see that you enjoy your work very much, the suite is really clean and well organized,” Daphne praised him as he puffed his chest, “I am sure that Harry will be very happy when he returns.”
Dobby bobbed his head rapidly, his ears flapping wildly before his green eyes noticed Daphne’s dress and he blinked, “Miss Greengrass, may Dobby know why Miss is wearing a gown to Master’s suite? And how did Miss convince Master to give the suite’s password to her?”
Daphne was impressed by the fact that the elf had not only asked about her intentions in a subtle manner, but also asked it in such a way that it would seem like an obvious and general question to anyone who wasn’t practiced with the pureblood laws.
“It’s the Yule Ball today, Dobby,” She told the elf as she smiled at him, “And I missed the person who I wanted to go to the ball with, so I came here,” she walked toward one of the bookcases that were present in the room, “to the one place where I know he spends most of his time.”
The loyal creature bobbed his head, “But I am sure Miss knows that Master Potter Sir isn’t here. So, there is still no particular reason to visit the suite in Master’s absence.”
“Yes, there isn’t,” Daphne agreed, “but I asked him when we met, and he said that I could visit the suite whenever I wanted.”
Dobby thought for some time, the expression was definitely strange on a hyperactive elf like him, but this elf wasn’t the usual house elf that were found in wizarding homes. No, he was Dobby, a proud elf who worked for his master, Harry Potter, and he would do anything to make sure his master was safe from all harm and danger, no matter where, or who, it came from.
“Alright Miss. Since you have the password, Dobby is sure that Dobby’s master trusted you,” The diminutive creature bowed, “Call for Dobby if you need anything. Also, Master’s bedroom and workshop are locked, so please, don’t visit them in Master’s absence.” Daphne nodded her assent and, with that, the elf popped out into thin air.
The Ice Queen sighed as she looked around the suite. This didn’t calm her at all. Her mind was still a wreck. At first, she had used this visit as an excuse to feel a bit closer to Harry on the day she wanted to be with him. She had even denied all the boys that had asked her to the ball and instead decided to go without a date. And that too for a short while, just for appearance sake.
But it was just that, an excuse.
Her real reason was that she still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that the Dark Lord was back, and that she now held something that he was actively looking for. It had been an easy plan that she had thought of at first when she was throwing it in Beaufort’s face. But now it seemed much more risky.
Getting to Dumbledore, giving him the cursed artifact and making him agree to protect her, her family, and Angelique was a really big thing that she wasn’t sure Dumbledore would agree to. At best, they could expect him to protect her at Hogwarts, but what about her parents? What about her and her sister when they left Hogwarts and went back to the manor? What then?
There were a lot of questions, a lot of things that were on stake here. She didn’t even know which option would be right and who would actually succeed this time. She really hoped that Voldemort would lose, but if, by some chance, he won, then she knew that Malfoy would whine to the Dark Lord, dooming her entire family.
Daphne violently shook her head to clear her mind,’Focus Daphne! Think! What would Harry do in this situation? What would he do to get out of this damn mess?!’
But at that moment, no idea except the one she had, came to her mind. Which meant that, one way or the other, she would have to talk to Dumbledore and make a deal with him. She just hoped that the artifact was priceless enough that Dumbledore would agree to her terms.
‘But what about Harry? I don’t think he even knows that Voldemort is back….’ Daphne thought as she chewed on her lower lip, she knew that Harry was out for some guild work. He had told her that day when they had been in the closet and she had asked him for the ball.
“I won’t be here on the day of the ball, Daphne, I don’t think I’ll be at Hogwarts for quite some time…”
That’s what he had told her and Daphne knew that it would be impossible to contact him when he was in the guild. Which meant that she needed to somehow leave him a note or a message. And that too, in a place secret enough that only he could see and bold enough that he does see it when he comes back from the Guild.
‘But where to find such a thing…?’ The Greengrass heiress thought as she looked around the room for something that would fit her requirement. It was then that her eyes fell upon a piece of newspaper sticking out from between the two red leather bound books on the bookshelf.
Daphne gently pulled out the newspaper, it looked a bit old and was folded quite well, as if whoever had placed it here had deliberately folded it neatly to keep it here. She wondered why would Harry do so? Well, it was Harry, who knows why he did half of the things he did? But if the paper was kept safe and neatly folded, it meant that it was special for Harry, right? Obviously!
‘Maybe Harry kept the article when his name came in the papers for the first time?’ Daphne thought with a small bout of curiosity and excitement as she slowly opened the paper. Her eyes widened and her hands trembled as the piece of neatly folded paper fell from her hands. Written on the paper, in bold, was the one incident that had shook the very foundations of the Wizarding world half-a-decade ago. The thing that had gripped the entirety of Wizarding Britain with something akin to a terrifying and horrible nightmare.
“Massacre at the Morte Tower”
The young witch still remembered this event as if it was only yesterday when her father had called for a family meeting for the first time after the war. Her grandmother, her aunt, her mother, and herself had been there for him. Astoria hadn’t been allowed as she was too small, and Daphne had only been allowed because she was ten and would join Hogwarts in a year.
Her father, the one person who had always been the most calm and collected man she had ever seen, the one person who was the strongest man she knew and the one who had single handedly protected them from the Dark and the Light side, even when her uncle had taken the mark, the one person who she had always looked up to and considered as her idol, was shaking in his boots. Her father was, in one word, terrified. He was afraid, and there was nothing that could ever make her forget that day. The day when the entire world learned that the prestigious Morte Tower of Britain had been ravaged! And it was a group, because it had to be a group, of wizards that had ravaged the Morte Tower. Why?
Because the alternative was a single man going on a rampage and killing ninety-four full-fledged Wizards single handedly, in a single night …. and that …. was more far more scary.
‘Why did Harry keep this thing safe?’
~OOO~
Water dripped from the ceiling. Its sound echoing through the dark corridors in which I stood. I looked down at the iron bars that were in front of my eyes. I wasn’t looking at the iron bars, but more at the two people that were behind them.
A pale faced woman sat in front of me, leaning against the dirty wall of the cell, her once vibrant red hair was now a dull shade of burgundy, clumped with the moisture permeating the cell and dirty because of the grime that was infesting it. She was slowly patting the head of a small child who was lying with his head in her lap. Her long fingers moved with expertise through the raven black locks that were equally dirty as the woman’s. Both of them had thick handcuffs around their wrists that were supposed to suppress magic.
I knew who they were. I knew where I was. And I knew that I was here because of the ritual that I had gone through. What I didn’t know was the ‘why’. Why was I witnessing this? Why was I here? Why was I looking at my past self and my mother when we were in captivity? WHY?!
“Mom?” My younger self’s voice broke the looming silence.
“Yes Harry?”
“Why are we here?” He asked her, “Why did they bring us here? What did we do?”
“Nothing sweetie,” Lily tried to assure him, “We did nothing wrong. These….” She took a deep breath, trying to hold back her frustrations, “These…men are just angry that your dad was able to protect us and that your brother is famous.”
I knew what mom meant but my younger self didn’t, “But mom, didn’t you and Gramma say that Dad did the right thing and that we should always be proud of it? And it’s not Alan’s fault that he’s famous, right?”
Lily smiled at her eldest son, “You are absolutely correct, Harry,” she sighed, “but I don’t think these people will ever learn that. That’s why they brought us here.”
“But it’s been a long time, and I want to go out,” my younger self looked at the bars through which I was looking at him, “I don’t know how Gramma is or if she’s worried about us too….she’ll be worried, right mom? I don’t want her to be worried.” He sniffed as his eyes started filling with tears, “And Alan too, I want to see him again, do you think he’ll know that we haven’t been with him for a…I don’t even know how long it has been.”
Mom pulled my younger self close and hugged him, “It’s been a week, Sweetie, we have been here for seven days.” She closed her eyes, and I could see she was trying to stem down the tears as she softly patted her son’s back.
“How do you know that, mum?”
Lily hesitated for just a second, “The room they take me in,” She told him, “That room has a clock and a calendar, so I know that it’s been a week since we were brought here.”
No one said anything for some time, but then my younger self asked, “Mom?” His voice was hesitant, “In..in the room…they don’t touch you in a bad way, r-right?” He didn’t want to look in her eyes as he knew that she would be shocked, and he was right too. I could see Mom’s eyes widen in shock as her mouth gaped a bit.
“Ho-how do you even know what a ‘bad touch’ is, Harry?” Lily asked her four-year-old son.
Harry hesitated for a moment, but then he decided to answer it as honestly as possible, “I-I once heard Padfoot talk about it,” The small kid didn’t bother looking in his mom’s eyes, “He was talking about protecting some woman who would have been touched in a…bad way by some men at a party, and I asked him what ‘bad touch’ meant.”
“And Sirius told you?” Lily asked her son who nodded, “And my little boy somehow remembered it all?”
Harry frowned at that, “I am not a small boy mom,” He pouted, making Lily smile, “And I remember everything.”
Lily hugged her son again, “I am so happy that you have such an excellent memory, sweetie, I really am,” she gave him a small forehead kiss, “But promise me, you won’t ask such things from Sirius or anyone else. Only from your mom and grandma, alright? Sirius is a good man, but he sometimes forgets that you’re still a young mind who remembers everything.” She placated him and tried not to make him pout, even though he looked so cute when he did.
“And no,” Lily continued, “The men don’t touch your mom in a bad way, they are just…angry. And they use your mom as a…reprieve for that.”
I now understood what she meant back then. They didn’t touch her, but they did vent their anger and frustrations on her by cursing and torturing her. She just didn’t want my younger self to know that she was in pain or suffering the aftereffects of cruciatus and other curses throughout her duration in this prison.
I never knew back then, but yes, my mom was a really strong woman. Enduring everything and not letting out a sob in front of her child so that he doesn’t feel bad or uncomfortable. ‘What a hero you were, Mom.’
“Will we be able to leave this place one day, Mom?” My younger self asked her again, this time looking in the eyes that were exactly the same shade as his own.
“Yes Sweetie,” Lily took a deep, shuddering breath but smiled to show her strength, “Yes, one day you will be free and meet Alan again, and Dorea too. I am sure you would love to hear your Gramma’s bedtime stories, right?” She patted his head and I could sense the broken tone of her voice.
The way she said it, the way she only said I would be free of the tower and meet Alan. I sighed. My mom already knew she wouldn't be able to leave the tower alive. She knew that it was the last time she had seen her youngest, and that one day it would be the last time she would see me too.
I was too young to notice it back then, I was too dumb to see that my mother had already left, and now all I had was the woman who was waiting for death to greet her and relieve her from the obvious pain that she was suffering from.
Soon footfalls were heard and I looked to the thick metal door on my right, it was the same one that our ‘caretakers’ used to come from. I looked back at my mom and saw her face pale. This wasn’t what I had wanted to see, not at all. If my memory served me right, and it always did, then this was the seventh day here and the last time I had seen my mom.
This was the last time I was actually hugging her. Why was Death making me watch these trapped memories again?!
“Harry?” Lily asked her son, who was shivering in her arms. Probably from the fear of the footfalls that both of them had heard.
“Harry..Harry look at me, stop shivering Sweetie,” Lily held her son close to comfort him and made him look into her eyes. For a moment everything stopped for her as she looked into the same emeralds that she herself possessed. They were so innocent, so full of life and so nervous.
“Harry, can you promise your momma something?” Mom asked my younger self who immediately nodded, “I want you to protect Alan. I want you to protect your brother and your grandma at all costs, alright?”
Younger Harry was a bit confused, “But I will protect them anyways,” He told her, “I will protect you, and Alan, and Gramma Rea. I will protect everyone once we are released from here.”
Lily held back her tears, “I know you will, my young man,” they shared a small smile at the nickname she gave her son a few months ago, “But I want you to promise me. I want to make sure that you remember this promise, and keep it until the time comes when you can’t keep it anymore.”
Younger Harry was confused again at the tone of emergency in his mom’s voice, even he could sense the panic and the restlessness, “Mo-mom? Is..Is everything alright?”
“Everything is perfectly fine, Sweetie,” Lily lied, “I just want you to promise me that you’ll be strong, I am not saying just strong in one field. I want you to be strong enough to protect your loved ones, to be strong enough to save all of us from falling to this fate ever again.”
“Why would we fall to this fate again, Mom?” Harry asked her, “We will never be caught by surprise, we will lock the manor down and only-”
The sound of footfalls were increasing and so was the panic inside my mom. I could see the dread on her face, and I knew that she wasn’t expecting herself to live anymore. She already knew that this would be her last day.
“Promise me Harry!” She screamed, “Promise me that you will be the strongest man, strong enough to always do the right thing. Promise me that you won’t ever fall to corruption, to the taste of power, and promise me that you’ll always protect your loved ones,” Tears started to fall from her eyes as she shook her son, “Promise me!!”
“I-I promise mom..” The scared little boy whispered and he was surprised when his mother pulled him into a bone crushing hug, just as a loud bang echoed in the corridor and they knew that their caretakers had arrived.
I saw the group of five men that had entered the corridor. I remembered each and every one of their faces, and why wouldn’t I? After all, these were the faces that had been my motivation to become the strongest man for the next three years of my captivity in the Morte tower.
“Always remember, Harry,” Lily whispered as she kissed her son’s forehead, “Your mom loves you, and she will support you in everything.” She smiled as her son nodded, “Always remember that your mom is with you. Because I will be. I will always be with you, watching over you, and encouraging you to do the right thing.”
I saw the group of creatures that were the ‘caretakers of the Morte tower’ laugh at us. I even tried punching one of them, but I already knew that this was basically a memory and I was right because my hand just passed through his head. Then one of them, Josh, banged his baton on the bars to get our attention.
“It’s time to end this sappy show you fuckers are throwing.” He sneered, “Get moving, mudblood, you know the deal.” He gave a nasty grin that made me want to kill him all over again.
But neither Lily, nor Harry, moved out of the embrace. Lily was openly shedding tears now and hugging her son as if he was her lifeline, and Harry didn’t want his mom to cry or worry about him.
“Can’t you hear, you mindless bitch?!” Another man shouted as he opened the door of the cell, “Get your filthy ass moving, right now!”
Lily hugged her son tighter and gave him another kiss on his forehead, “Always remember that Momma is with you, Harry, and I will be proud of you no matter what you do, alright?”
Harry nodded, his face still in his mother’s bosom, “I will make you proud, Mom.” His muffled voice came, “I will be the best and make you proud of me, I will not let you down. Ever.”
Lily patted her son and smiled, a last tear filled one, “I know you won’t, you are my son after all.” She gave him another hug and a forehead kiss as Harry hugged her tightly.
“Mark, what the fuck are you waiting for?” Josh growled at the one who was standing in the cell’s gateway, “Drag the bitch out o’ the cell.”
“At your order, sir!”
I saw Mark enter the cell and separate us, I witnessed how my mom cried and how my younger self tried to fight the guard as he pulled mom out of the cell. My younger self couldn’t bear to lose her that time, so he jumped at Mark and that’s when the guard gave a strong kick to his chest.
“HARRY!!” Lily screamed as she watched her son being thrown back to the wall and fall on the ground, releasing a painful groan, “YOU….!!!” She screamed at Mark and pushed him down with surprising strength as she started punching and scratching the guard’s face.
Other guards came and pulled her away from Mark who wiped his bloodied face and glared murderously at Lily, “You seem to forget where you are mudblood.”
“And you seem to forget who you are up against,” Lily spat on the ground, “Putting these handcuffs on me and pretending to be all powerful when three men are holding me back, what a shameful little freak you are!”
Mark just glared at her as he clenched his fists.
“As long as I live, no one touches my son. NO ONE!” Lily shouted at Mark as she tried to get free from the guards who were holding her, “Do not forget the deal!”
“Then maybe we should take care of that thing first,” Mark growled and left the cell to go and stand near Josh, “Bring her, it’s time to teach her some proper manners, let’s see how resilient she is.”
Lily gulped but her glare didn’t recede one bit. As she was dragged out of her cell, she looked back at her son who was slowly opening his eyes again. Lily smiled at her son, her eyes filled with tears as the guards pulled her away.
I stood there as I watched all this happen again in front of my eyes. My blood boiled and I wanted nothing more than to kill these freaks. Torture them, make them scream and beg for their pesky lives as I chopped them away.
And I did. That one night when I was able to do all of it had been the most satisfying night for me.
I watched my younger self slowly get up from the floor and glare at the prison bars. I knew that I had heard all of it and at that time, only one thought was rapidly going inside my mind. ‘I have to fulfill the promise I made..’
Mom had never returned that day. And somehow after the fourth day, I gave up hope that she ever would. Years later, I came to know that she had left me alone that day. They had transported her in a coffin with a letter that said that soon I would be sent that way too if Alandale Potter wasn’t given to them.
But I hadn’t been sent. No, I was too stubborn to just roll over and die. I had a promise to keep, people to protect, a goal to live for, and…a tower to annihilate.
.
The scene changed before my eyes as the world vanished and a new one appeared. I still didn’t know why the merlin-be-damned Entity was making me watch these cursed memories once more but this time I stood in a darkened corner. Same tower, same corridor, same cell, and same prisoner.
The only thing that was different was the time.
I looked at my past self as he scraped lines on the wall behind him. The walls were full of those. These lines were the number of times they came to give me a tray of hard bread and a glass of water. I had somehow managed to get it from one of the patrolling guards that they were supposed to feed me once daily. Which meant that each time a tray of food was brought, a day had passed.
I didn’t know at what age I was looking at myself right now, I had been in captivity for three years. So this could be any of my four, five or six-year-old self. But judging by my height and the number of lines, I would say either six or relatively close to it.
I heard footsteps from the corridor and decided to take a look to guess the time, so I left my younger self and stepped out of the cell. The iron bars passing through my translucent body. The footsteps were fast, which meant whoever it was, was either angry or in a hurry.
The door opened and I looked at the man who stepped inside. Guard Timothy, Tim for short. He had been one of the newest recruits for the tower, and the only one who actually talked to me every once in a while. He used to tell me how the outside world was and what day it was. Going as far as to give me his lunch once a month, and that was way more than I could have asked for.
But the expression on his face told me what day it was that Death was making me watch.This was the day I had been waiting for during the three years of my captivity.
The day I had been granted my sweet release.
“Harry, Harry!!!” Tim whispered loudly, calling the boy who was scrapping on the wall. He snapped his fingers and got the boy’s attention, “Harry, come here. Come-come,” The guard fumbled with his pocket and pulled out a long iron key, he opened the door of the cell and stepped inside.
“Harry, I will say this once, and you better remember it, alright?” Tim asked the boy as he bent down to his eye-level, “The guards on duty are celebrating the joining of a new member to ‘The Council’, so they are a bit busy with the festivities. We won’t get another chance like this. I want you to stay as close to me as possible and watch my back, alright?”
“Tim?” The younger Harry asked in confusion, “What…what are we going to do?”
Tim smiled at the boy as he patted his head, “We are escaping.”
The new member who joined that day had been none other than Lucius Malfoy. The one person who had successfully evaded me on the day I had made my return to the Morte tower. The one person who had been slippery enough to save himself and his son’s hide from me even till now.
After that it was all just as I remembered. Tim and I had sneaked around the corners, escaping the random patrol guards and tip-toeing through the corridors as we slowly climbed our way out from the tower’s dungeons. Tim had tried to alter my appearance and make me look older but the magic suppressing handcuffs prevented it, and unfortunately only the chief of the caretakers could open the cuffs without breaking them.
Still, everything hadn’t been sunshine and daisies that night. And the same thing happened again, just as I remembered it.
Two drunk guards had decided to take a walk that night. They left the ‘party room’ and unfortunately we came face-to-face with them. Tim was fast enough to kill them both but he wasn’t fast enough to stop one of them from raising the alarm.
After that, my helper removed his shirt and tied my frail self to his front and with his wand in his hand, he ran for the exit. Throwing blasting hexes at the guards that swarmed us, killing many and dodging their curses all the way to the first floor because the ground floor was sealed shut.
I didn’t want to watch what happened next but I knew I had to. And I did.
I watched as Tim made a run for the window on the first floor and, holding me close, he jumped out of it, back first. The window glass shattered with a loud noise as he fell on the grassy ground that surrounded the tower.
Tim groaned in pain as he held my younger self close to his chest. Still, the man knew he didn’t have any time, and that ‘The Council’ would kill them both if they got the chance. So, instead of waiting, he forced himself on his feet as he staggered to the ward line, killing the few guards that were around it.
“Harry, I want you to listen to me, and I won’t-won’t be…able to repeat, alright?” Tim panted as he untied my younger self and fell on his knees, both of us had cuts and bruises on ourselves but my only friend had shielded me from almost all of them as his body was literally bleeding from everywhere.
“TIM!” Harry screamed but said man just waved him off as he gulped for air.
“I want you to leave this place, listen carefully to what I say..” He took another gulp of air as he looked around himself, “Go to Diagon Alley and, once there, go to Gringotts, you know where Gringotts is? Ever been there?”
Harry shook his head.
“Fuck..” Tim cursed, “It’s a big white building in the center of Diagon Alley, alright? You go inside and go to one of the goblin tellers. Do you know what goblins are or what they look like?”
The younger mage nodded rapidly, “I have seen pictures in my storybooks, they have a-”
“Good-good,” Tim panted a bit more, “Go to one of the tellers and tell him you are Harry Potter and want to prove it. Then once you’ve done that-”
“Why would I want to prove myself? I am Harry Potter! I can simply go to Potter manor and-”
“There is no Potter Manor!” Tim growled, “Your manor was razed to the ground a year ago by ‘The Council’, there is nothing left there!”
“But…” Younger Harry’s eyes filled with tears when he heard that, “What about Alan? What about Gramma Rea? What-what about our elves? What happened to them?”
Angry shouts could be heard from the tower’s direction and Tim got a panicked look in his eyes as he held Harry close, “I don’t know what happened to them. Alan Potter is safe but I am not sure about this ‘Gramma Rea’ or the Potter elves, the manor isn’t there. That’s why you go to Diagon Alley, alright? Go to Gringotts and prove you are Harry Potter, the goblins will protect you from ‘The Council’ as Gringotts is goblin territory and wizards can’t do shit there.”
Harry nodded his head rapidly as he took in everything, this was really important for him as he could hear the shouts getting louder.
“After you have proved yourself, ask Gringotts to call for Albus Dumbledore, can you remember that name?” Harry again bobbed his head, “Good, call for Albus Dumbledore and tell him everything. Okay? He is the only one who can protect you from ‘The Council’ right now.”
“Shouldn’t we go to the hospital first, you need to-”
“I don’t need anything, Potter,” Tim shook his head, “The only thing I need right now is for you to do just as I said. The moment you leave this place, The Council will be alerted and you will be hunted like a mad dog throughout the world. The hospital can’t be trusted with protecting you, the only way is to go to Gringotts first, then call for Dumbledore, understand?”
Harry gulped at the conviction that was in Tim’s eyes, he agreed, “Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Albus Dumbledore, got it.”
“Good, now take this,” Tim shoved his wand in Harry’s hand and a few coins from his pocket, “Raise the wand facing the road.”
“But Tim-”
“NOW POTTER!”
The voices were growing and I saw two men jump out of the ward line as they spotted us and shouted to the others that were following Tim and my younger self.
“DO IT!” Tim screamed again as he slowly staggered back to his full height. While younger Harry raised the wand facing the road and within seconds there was a loud bang as a double-decker bus in the most vibrant shade of purple stood near us.
The door opened and a thin lanky boy with numerous pimples stood in the doorway with a slightly tilted beanie on his head as he read from a slip in his hand, “Welcome to the Knight bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or-”
“Take the boy to Diagon,” Tim growled at the conductor who’s eyes widened at the man’s condition. “Do not, under any circumstance, drop him at the Cauldron. Take him through the south-west entrance, the alley behind the dilapidated Victor manor, you know that one, eh?”
The boy with the beanie bobbed his head. “Well, get to the damn thing then, what the hell are you waiting fo’?! And do NOT leave him till he has entered the Diagon, here, keep the change,” Tim tossed a galleon in the conductor’s direction who deftly caught it.
“Now toss off, and do NOT STOP!!”
I watched as Stan, the conductor, picked my crying and screaming self up as the door was closed and Tim prepared to fight the oncoming guards and prevent them from following the bus as it swiftly vanished into the night’s air.
I knew what had happened after this. It had been just as Tim had told me to do that day. I had gone to Diagon, went through the wall of the dilapidated Victor manor and entered Diagon Alley through the South-west entrance. I had even spotted the large white building that was Gringotts.
Unfortunately, exhaustion had finally taken over my mind and body as the night’s rush took its toll on my already malnourished and tired self, or was it the blood loss? Maybe both? Still, I had fallen unconscious on my way to Gringotts and someone must have picked me up from the road and placed me in the corner of an ice-cream parlor the next day, as the next thing I remembered was my brother, Alan, waking me up and giving me an ice-cream as he discussed with his friend how ‘Harry Potter was dead’.
.
The world rotated around me once more. And this time I wondered when it would finally stop. I was getting tired of this. Tired and angry. Why was Death making me watch all of my worst memories again and again? Was this its way of mocking me? Why was it doing this?!
Still, I didn’t get a response as suddenly I stood in the corridor once more. This time, it was lit on both sides with torches and I could hear shouts coming from behind the locked doors in front of me.
Unfortunately, I was still in the Tower, apparently for some reason Death was adamant that I watched all of my memories regarding the Tower. Even when I didn’t want to. Though if I remember it right, the only time I visited the tower after I had left it, was when I was ten years old.
And, if I was only watching my memories, then this was the last time I had visited the Tower. It had also been the last night that the tower stood tall.
The door that had been locked a while ago slammed open and…yeah, my ten-year-old self walked through it. I was dressed in charcoal black. Everything from my shirt, pants, and the free movement armor on my torso to the utility belt on my waist that held potions, salves, and chewable herbs. My gloves with the poisoned daggers hidden inside them, my shoes. Everything was black.
The only two things that weren’t black were the silver glare of my eyes, which was powered by my Runes of Potentia, and the blood that was splattered on my face, clothes, and the Deathwood wand that was in my right hand.
I still don’t know how I could ever thank the Flamels. It was only through sheer luck that I met Lady Flamel in Diagon Alley, where I was working as a part-time chore boy for all the shops there. She was in one of the recently opened cafes, and had been surprised when she saw a boy as young as me serve her.
She had loved the delicacy and, on asking, she came to know that it was actually one of my creations. After that, she called me to talk with me and offered me a place in her home if I wanted it. I told her that I wasn’t someone she would want with her after she learned about me. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t flinch away from me, and insisted that I should join her in her manor.
And then, as they say, the rest is history.
Slowly I opened up to her and she learned as much about me as I could tell about the tower. When asked, I told her that I want to kill Mark, Josh, and all the others that had caused me pain. I thought that she would be disgusted in me and would try to prevent me, but shockingly enough she wasn’t. Instead, the Flamels introduced me to my two new Maesters, who would train me in Magical and Muggle combat for one year. The Flamels even helped me undergo the ritual that had saved my life countless times. The infamous Ritual of Potentia had been done under their tutelage.
And this…was the memory after I had finished my training in the Flamel manor. This was me, back to take my revenge. To avenge my mom’s and guard Tim’s deaths. To destroy the Morte Tower, once and for all.
I watched as I killed each and every guard that came my way. No one stood a chance. After a while, instead of facing me, they started running away from my very presence. Screaming things likes 'Monster!' and 'The DEVIL', begging me to spare their lives and that they hadn't done anything wrong. But I knew they did. They did wrong, they were part of what made me suffer their dungeons, I remembered their laugh and I remembered their sneers as they taunted and spat at me. I butchered them all. Through my wand or with my dagger in their skulls and hearts, I carved a blood-filled path to my goal.
No one survived that night. No one who had the ‘Mark of The Council’ survived that night. I killed a staggering ninety-four wizards that day. Blasting their bodies and severing their blood vessels as I walked through the mobs like a man possessed by the devil himself. I didn’t count the number, but it was in the next day’s Prophet. I had then proceeded to destroy the entire tower, and used all of my Runes of Potentia to torch the tower with the one curse that my Maester had taught me to use only when there was no other option left, Fiendfyre.
They called it ‘Massacre at the Morte Tower’. An apt title, if I have ever heard one, because it was exactly that, a massacre. And I, a ten-year-old boy at that time, was the one who caused it.
I watched as my younger self went on a rampage and massacred the guards serving the Council like a monster, like the devil had been unleashed and was paying a bloody visit to his worst enemies.
It was when the last man, my worst enemy, Mark, whom I had tortured the most, was crawling away from me, begging me to spare his life and crying to the heavens as he left a bloody trail from his severed knees and praying to me to leave him alone, that I heard another pair of footsteps. I now knew who it was, but my younger self didn’t. And that’s why I missed the opportunity to kill him that day.
Lucius Malfoy had been awakened quite harshly as the ward tied to The Council’s British Headquarters was blasted. He had rushed to see what had caused it and the sight made him retch.
And why shouldn’t it? There I was, standing in a pool of blood that had filled the entire corridor, chopped and blasted bodies, and their parts, laid around me. All dead. My face, my clothes, everything was drenched in red, and there was a mad glint in my silver eyes as I pulled Mark by his hair and looked in Malfoy’s pale gray ones before flicking my dagger out and severing Mark’s head right before the Malfoy lord’s eyes.
At that moment, Lucius Malfoy did the only thing that he could, and it was probably the smartest thing he ever did. He ran away. As fast as he could, he ran out of the tower and, since the wards were already destroyed, he used his portkey to vanish before I could get my hands on him. I knew that this would definitely come back to bite me in a few days.
And, like always, I was right.
The memory shifted again as the world around me started to swirl. I hoped that this had been the last torturous memory that Death would put me through. That there were no more memories that I had to go through again, to watch my miserable and pathetic life once more, to witness what made me, me.
There was a blinding flash of light and I cried out in pain as I shut my eyes and fell to my knees.
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Ending note: There you have it fellas, chapter Twenty-One of Innovator, hope you liked it.
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